Subspace Emissary: The Return
by ColonelPepperz
Summary: When Bowser finds a new partner, and a dormant Subspace bomb is uncovered, things start to tip in the direction of darkness.
1. Prologue

**Subspace Emissary: **

**The Return**

**Prologue **

**It has been a year since the Subspace Army and Tabuu have been defeated. The world went back to normal, and each hero returned to their homes. Sonic went back to racing whoever he could find, Mario went on a second vacation to Delfino, Fox and his team returned to the skies, and Link went back to Hyrule. **

Mario stood in the middle of Delfino Plaza and looked around, a smile on his face. It was funny to think that the last time he has here, he was chasing Bowser, Jr. and cleaning up that devil's mess! He had plans for Blooper riding and pigging out on fruit.

He went back to the airstrip to help Peach with her things, and to make sure Luigi didn't mess anything up. It was there that he spied a box that said F.L.U.D.D. on it.

"F.L.U.D.D.? What's in that box?" Mario asked one of the flight crew.

"Well, since you left, we haven't used him at all. He's being shipped out to a dump."

"What? Let me have him!"

Mario and the water-spraying contraption were reunited, and he got ready for the vacation he had been robbed of.

Kirby sat in the Dragoon tentatively. Ever since the Subspace Army's attack, he had been getting used to racing again, but only in the heat of the moment had he been brave enough to ride the Dragoon. Now that things had calmed down, he found it harder to ride it.

It was then that he saw a huge airship passing overhead, and he recognized the Halberd immediately. As usual, his curiosity got the better of him, and he gunned the 

engine quickly. Racing off down the cobbled road, Kirby tilted the nose upward, and he was in the air.

He followed the Halberd for a few miles, and then he picked up speed to get to the cockpit. Kirby saw Meta-Knight at the wheel, and waved. Meta-Knight turned to look at his visitor, waved his hand once, and then turned back to driving. Kirby shrugged his shoulders and took off in the other direction.

Kirby flew for about a hundred miles west, and eventually saw Delfino Isle in the distance. He vaguely remembered Mario saying something about vacation.

Three Arwings flew through space, eventually being joined by a fourth. Fox and Slippy veered off to the right, while Falco and Krystal aimed their Arwings to the left. It was just another recon flight. The Star Fox team was getting bored. The Subspace Army was the biggest thrill they'd had in a long time, and nothing had been going on since then.

Fox heard a voice coming over the intercom, and he said, "Come again?"

This time he could hear Slippy's voice loud and clear. "Why don't we head for Earth?"

Falco replied first, "We need action. Come on Fox, let's go!"

Fox flew in silence for a minute. "Fine," he said. "Let's go to Earth."

Lucario stood at the top of his mountain, watching the world below him. Just then, he saw Kirby on the Dragoon shoot by. His brow furrowed as he looked into the horizon to see where the little pink creature was going. A few seconds later, three Arwings plunged into the atmosphere above him, and he immediately recognized Fox and Falco, but he didn't know who the frog sitting in the third Arwing was.

As they came closer, Lucario leapt off the peak of the mountain and free fell for a second before he landed on the back of Fox's Arwing.

"Where are you guys going?" he asked.

"We need some action," replied Fox, "so we came to Earth."

"And we saw Kirby, so we're just following him!" added Falco.

"And who's the frog?" Lucario asked.

"That's Slippy! He's part of our team!"


	2. Chapter 1: Reunion

**Chapter I:**

**Reunion**

Mario was scared by the roaring of engines at first, until he saw Kirby. He was quickly followed by Fox, Falco, Lucario, and Slippy.

"What is this place?" asked Fox as he got out of his Arwing. The people of Delfino began to gather in awe at the flying machines.

"It's called Delfino," said Toadsworth in a raspy voice. "And it's a prime vacation spot! Don't ruin it!"

"Lay off, gramps," said Falco. "We just came to Earth to see some old friends. We were bored!"

Lucario remained silent, but headed off into the town. The Delfinians cast a glance in his direction, but their attention remained on the Arwings. Slippy was the last to get out of his Arwing.

About a hundred R.O.B.'s stood on the suspended platform. One that stood in front of them, looking a little different, somehow – it had the look of a leader. Blurry figures flashed by them – Primids. Even after the fall of Subspace, a few Primids lingered, uncertain in their loyalties. Two of them held Scope guns, and the third had a beam sword. R.O.B., after salvaging his brothers from the ruins of the Subspace Bomb Factory, had taken a spaceship in order to try and start a colony in space where the R.O.B.'s could be free of their previous life of servitude. Now, after a savage attack from Primids in space, they were stuck on the remains of their spaceship. These three Primids that lingered close were just a small part of the army that had collected in outer space.

A cloud of the robotic creatures appeared, rising upward slowly, and the three that flew close to the R.O.B.'s bolted away to join them. The R.O.B. that led the rest waved his hand, and all of them opened fire. Red lasers rivaled the short yellow bursts from the Scope Primids, and soon the Primids were decimated. R.O.B. turned to his brothers and pointed towards Earth. It looked like they were going back!

"There's _no way _you can beat me!" shouted Sonic to his opponent who sat in the Falcon Flyer about three feet away.

Captain Falcon smirked and said, "We'll see about that!"

A confused Tails swung a flag and said, "Go!" Sonic took off, with the Falcon Flyer close behind. The blue hedgehog ducked his head, and his body became a blur as he ran effortlessly over the ocean. Captain Falcon's ship's thrusters shot out bright yellow flames as it closed the gap between the two racers.

"How long are we racing?" Sonic heard Captain Falcon shout over the roar of his engine.

"Until we can't run anymore!" Sonic shouted back.

Toadsworth entered the Delfino condo with an urgent look on his face.

"What's wrong, Toadsworth?" asked Peach.

"Well, a couple of divers found something at the bottom of a trench not to far from here," the elder Toad replied.

"So?" said Mario.

"Well…it…it was a dormant Subspace bomb."

"What!?" said Fox, getting up from the chair he sat in.

"I told them the story, though they probably already knew some of it. They're not sure how to dispose of it without setting it off."

Meanwhile, on a cliff overlooking Pinna Park, Bowser stood beside his new partner. The villain sat in a robotic contraption, looking smugly over the theme park below him.

"This will be the easiest part," he assured Bowser. With that, he turned his machine and trotted off, the robotic legs making a mechanical _thunk_ing sound. Bowser grunted dismissively and jumped into his clown-face helicopter which waited on the cliff below.

The strange flying machine hovered higher in the sky, and then Bowser pressed a big red button that sat in his lap. With a raspy laugh, he flew away, awaiting the impending destruction of Pinna Park.

A few tourists turned their heads to watch Bowser fly away, but they dismissed it as just another attraction. It was when a massive, leafy hand reached out from a hole in the ground that wasn't there a second ago that all their heads were turned. Smoke and embers still lingered in the sky from the explosion that tore through the ground, and in its midst stood an enormous Petey Piranha. The carnivorous plant snapped at the 

tourists close to it, and they snapped photos quickly before running for their lives. Cackling, the Petey Piranha swept a leafy hand towards the merry-go round, which was abandoned except for one petrified toddler, frozen on the orange Yoshi statue that he rode.

Delfinians pointed with fear at the toddler when a small missile came out of nowhere, snagged the toddler by the collar, and propelled him away from the ride just as it was smashed into pieces. The missile detonated harmlessly, and the boy dropped into the fountain with a thunk.

"Sorry 'bout that, folks," said a low, rough voice. A warrior clad in body armor and a black headband holding a smoking missile launcher stepped into view. Solid Snake had returned.

The Petey Piranha eyed the rugged soldier as Snake stepped closer. He discretely grabbed a grenade from his belt, and, pulling the pin out with his teeth, chucked it at the enormous plant. A fiery mass burst from the bomb, causing the Petey Piranha to recoil. Snake aimed his missile launcher again and fired off three missiles, which detonated on the plant's bulging belly. The owner of Pinna Park, who had helped Mario so long ago, still had the same glee as he ran up to Snake.

"Ooh, another hero!! I guess I must be lucky! Here, have this, and defeat your enemies!!" he cried, throwing a multi-coloured, shining orb into the air. Snake, recognizing the Smash Ball immediately, grabbed it and snapped it over his knee. The sky seemed to darken as he was enveloped by a fiery aura. Tourists gasped in awe as he knelt down and a helicopter came from the sky. He grabbed the rope ladder, and whipped out a new weapon. Looking through the scope, he aimed at the Petey Piranha. Twelve missiles shot out and exploded on the plant. It collapsed in a pile of flame and blackened vines.

"I guess I'll finish this in style," muttered Snake as the flames died down and he strolled over to the Petey Piranha. Kneeling down and putting a little black object on the withered plant, he looked around at the tourists and saluted them. He walked away casually, pressing a button that he held in his hand. Immediately, fire gushed from the ground, destroyed all remains of the monster that had stood there two minutes ago.

Bowser swept over the park, excited by the explosions he had heard. Once he realized that it was his monster that had exploded, he screamed in rage.

"_You liar!" _he rasped into a walkie-talkie. _"The Petey Piranha is dead!" _

"Hmm…so there are powerful fighters here. No matter – we'll resort to Plan B."

"_And what's that?" _asked Bowser.

"You haven't heard the news? The stupid Delfinians unearthed a dormant _Subspace bomb._"

Sonic could see the island in front of him, and he grinned.

"We'll end the race here!" he called to Captain Falcon.

"No! You're just saying that because you're in the lead!"

"That's right!" Sonic shouted, picking up speed. He reached the shore of the island and cheered.

"You cheater," accused Falcon as he pulled up.

"It's not my fault if you're too slow," chided the blue hedgehog. That's when he turned and noticed the canine Pokemon staring at him.

"Hey…" Sonic said. "I remember you! You're Lucario!"

"_That's right," _said Lucario. _"And you're Sonic the Hedgehog. What brings you to Delfino Isle?" _

"So this is Delfino? Mario said something about that, didn't he?"

"_Yes. He was planning to vacation here. He's here now. I came with Fox, Falco, and their frog friend," _replied Lucario, turning and motioning for Sonic to follow him.

"Race you there!" said Sonic, darting off. Lucario watched with a disdainful look on his face.

"_Idiot," _he muttered. _"The condo is the other direction." _

"So these are your troops?" asked Dr. Eggman.

"_Yes,"_ rasped Bowser. _"This is the Koopa Army." _

"Well, do you mind if I outfit them with some state-of-the-art technology?" Eggman inquired, motioning towards the large steel structure behind him.

"_Go ahead – anything for an advantage," _Bowser replied.

A few hours later, Bowser looked down at his Koopa Army. They all wore visors and held laser guns. A few Hammer Bros. still had their hammers, but also had full body armor, despite their shells.

"I think this army is quite satisfactory," said Eggman. "We start the attack now."

Fox, standing on the condo's porch, saw a peculiar turtle-like creature, decked out in a visor and laser gun.

"Falco, Slippy, check this guy out," he said.

Falco frowned and said, "He's up to no good."

"I agree," said Slippy, rubbing his eyes. His eyes widened, though, when a thousand more armed Koopas marched into Delfino Plaza.

"It's an invasion!" declared Fox. Mario and Luigi appeared at his side.

Fox dashed towards the plaza, pulling out his laser gun. He fired off three beams that took out three Koopas, and he saw blue beams shooting from overhead. He turned to see Falco running on the roofs, shooting at the Koopas. Fox stowed his gun and leapt into the air. As fire enveloped his body, he shot towards the army. He swooped in, causing small explosions as he barreled into the ground. The fire dissipated just as Falco did the same, blazing through the turtle-like attackers. Slippy, holding two guns, fired into the army quickly. An enormous cobalt-colored explosion ripped through the flank as Lucario, Sonic and Captain Falcon stepped onto the scene.

"Need some help?" said Sonic with a grin. Lucario rolled his eyes and fired another blue burst into the army, throwing a dozen into the ground. They disappeared in a flurry of silver light and dust.

"_Fragile, aren't they?" _he said.

"Very," said Captain Falco, smashing into a few Koopas with a fiery fist.

Meanwhile, Snake made his way to the top of the Shine Sprite Tower. Looking down at the battle below him, he sighed. "These people sure know how to get themselves into trouble."

He loaded another round into his missile launcher and began picking off groups of Koopas.

The fighters had just about finished off the Koopa Army when Eggman and Bowser swooped in from above, heading for the tower that held the Subspace bomb. Snake, noticing the two, aimed his missile launcher at them, but his shot was too late. Eggman blasted open the tower, and lowered a crane hook into it. He and Bowser left with the bomb in tow.

"Contact Ganondorf," suggested Eggman. "Tell him we're going to lay waste to Delfino!"

"_He says that he needs it for something else," _Bowser relayed. _"Here, you talk to him." _

"Hello? Ganondorf?"

"Hello, Eggman. Listen, I have a score to settle with Hyrule…"

"Forget it! Most of the heroes are here, in Delfino!!" retorted Eggman.

"No. If you don't let me use the bomb, I'm pulling out my troops from your little rival Sonic's home."

Eggman grumbled angrily. "Fine."


End file.
